


The Beekeeper

by MHWK



Category: Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Genre: Bees, F/M, Slow Build, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2018-03-18 20:43:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3583347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MHWK/pseuds/MHWK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stinger Apini has thrown himself into his work. Beatrice Holguin is a beekeeper without bees. Kiza Apini thinks the two of them are destined to meet and will do what she can to make sure it happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

“Kiza! Look at this!” Andrew exclaimed the moment she walked through the door. 

Kiza smiled and approached as he pointed at a jar on the counter. Andrew was the son of the grocery store’s owner. If Earth had splices, she would think he could be a fox-splice with his wild red hair and his playful demeanor. It wasn’t just that, though. There was something else about the way he acted occasionally that made her think he cleverly hid his intellect. 

When she got to the counter he stood behind, he handed her the jar. “Isn’t it neat?” he said.

The jar contained honey, but it was odd. It was blue. Of course she had seen colored honey before, but not that bright blue, especially on Earth. Bees on other planets could make honey every color of the rainbow depending on what kind of plants were nearby. But on Earth, this was odd.

Andrew’s smile faltered when she didn’t share his enthusiasm. “I mean, she said she wasn’t selling it. You don’t have competition,” he said.

Kiza frowned. “Why wouldn’t she?”

It didn’t make sense for someone who had the means to produce something so interesting to not sell it. That was capitalism. That was what Earth did. 

“She just moved here. Into that old place just north of town?” Andrew asked and waited for Kiza to give him her attention. “Said she’d been fixing it up for the past year so that she could move her operation there. But before she could move her bees and some of the flowers, that rainfall they had a few towns over a few weeks ago destroyed all the flowers and hive boxes. So she just wanted to get rid of everything.”

Her frown deepened as she set the jar down. “She must have really liked bees,” she said.

Andrew nodded. He took the jar in his hands. His excitement had subsided into sadness. He seemed to realize just how much this beekeeper had lost. 

“You said the old place north of town? Is it the one with that old horse barn?” Kiza asked.

“Yeah,” he replied. “The old inn with the carriage horse barn.”

“What’s her name?” Kiza asked. She’d had a thought to visit with the lady.

Andrew shrugged and then looked at the jar. “Beatrice Holguin? That’s what it says here. With a contact number. You going to go talk to her?”

“Gonna talk bees,” Kiza chuckled as she turned to walk away. She waved goodbye to Andrew. He waved goodbye back, and then she left the store without getting what she had originally set out to get. But she had a better idea. 

Seeing this Beatrice was a good idea, she thought. It was a perfect idea. Someone who loved bees would certainly get along well with someone who was half-bee, wouldn’t they? 

Kiza pursed her lips in thought as she walked north of town. The old inn wasn’t too far anyway. She wondered what her father would think of this beekeeper. Someone who wasn’t afraid of being around quite a few bees at one time. Someone who seemed sad when she had lost all of the bees in her care. She hoped the woman didn’t see them strictly as a source of income. 

Arriving at the house, she knocked upon the front door. It was certainly large enough to have been used as an inn in the past. A sign by the road had lain in pieces so she hadn’t been able to see what it had once been called. In fact, as she stood at the door, a sign on the porch beside her seemed splintered as well. The paint was well faded by years of weather. The rest of the house, though, seemed well repaired. 

Kiza knocked again, but paused when she heard a loud commotion behind the house and a string of cursing that would’ve made the most fearsome Skyjackers blush. 

She rushed from the porch around the back of the house where a cloud of dust was settling and a woman fanned the air in front of her as she paused her words to cough. She turned at the end of her coughing fit and her dark eyes landed on Kiza. 

“Oh shit,” she said and then she stuttered. “I mean-- I… I’m so sorry. I thought I was alone. I--” She sighed heavily and dropped her head for a moment. 

Kiza could tell she was having a difficult time. She seemed defeated.

Composing herself, the woman said, “I’m sorry you had to hear that.”

Even when she smiled, the corners of her lips didn’t really rise. The smile was the barest movement of her lips, just a tightlipped expression that didn’t reach the rest of her face. 

The expression hurt Kiza’s heart. This woman, this Beatrice Holguin had certainly suffered a great loss. She was sad because of bees. 

“Is there something I can help you with?” she asked Kiza.

“No, no,” Kiza said quickly and stepped forward with her hand outstretched. “I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Kiza Apini.”

Beatrice removed her work gloves and shook her hand. “Apini? Oh! The other beekeepers!”

“You’ve heard about us?” Kiza asked when the woman released her hand.

“At the store yesterday,” Beatrice said. “But don’t worry, you won’t have a bit of competition from me in the honey market in this town.”

The comment was meant to be consoling, a joke, but tears brimmed in Beatrice’s eyes and she smiled even broader as she fought them away. 

Kiza nodded. “I’d heard,” she said softly. “I’m sorry that happened.”

Beatrice chuckled, “Wow, that got around quickly.”

Changing the subject, Kiza said, “Are you working on something?” and motioned towards what appeared to be an old horse barn.

“Yeah… some of the ceiling beams were a little rickety and I thought I could fix them but it just… well.” Beatrice waved her gloves at the cloud of dust that still seemed unsettled and chuckled.

It was then that Kiza saw it, what looked like a little flower tattoo on the outside of Beatrice’s left wrist. 

“Cute tattoo,” she mentioned, hoping to steer the conversation towards it. It seemed familiar with its star-like shape “Borage flower?” she asked.

The beekeeper looked to her left wrist and said, “Yeah, I think that’s what it looks like. _Borago officinalis_. If you can believe it though, it’s not a tattoo. I was born with it.”

“Yeah?” Kiza smiled. “Weird!”

“Definitely!” Beatrice smiled back. This time it was real. “I credit this weird little birthmark flower to the reason I got into working with bees.”

Kiza shrugged. “It _is_ a favorite flower.”

Beatrice continued to smile. “Can’t research borage flowers without running into something about bees,” she added. 

“We have a bunch of them growing at our house. I’m sure I could get some seeds for you if you’d like,” Kiza offered.

The smile changed on the beekeeper’s face. “Thank you,” she said softly, “but… I know this is going to sound really odd. I don’t think I’m ready.”

Kiza’s brows drew together. 

Beatrice laughed, a harsh sound. “I know it sounds stupid. My family laughs at me because they think I’m taking this too hard. It’s just bees, they tell me. Get more.”

Kiza shook her head. “No, you’re alright. I’d be just as devastated if something like that happened to me and my father.”

She wasn’t lying. The hives within the walls of her home, that was just an extension of her family. To think of such a thing happening… She quickly shook her head. That wasn’t something she even wanted to consider.

Clearing her throat at the silence that had filled the space between them, Kiza asked, “So what are you planning on doing with this place? It’s huge.”

“Well…” Beatrice rubbed the back of her head. “The plan was a bed and breakfast and change the old horse stalls into garage parking and have a big garden in the back acreage for the bees but… I’m a little short on money, building supplies, time, and manpower to get this place up and running the way I need it. I actually wasn’t supposed to be here until next year.”

As the sun soon began to set, Kiza left the old inn and the very tired beekeeper who had lost all of her bees. It was nice meeting the woman. It was nice meeting someone who wasn’t afraid of bees, and who seemed to be experiencing genuine grief for the ones lost not as income but as family. 

When she returned home, after stopping at the store, she found her father sitting with Queen Jupiter and Caine Wise in the living room. The bees in the walls were excited. She knew that there were visitors from the moment she turned down the driveway.

“Thought you’d gotten lost,” her father said when she entered the room. She could see his worry and only gave him a happy smile.

“I met someone,” she said. “Got distracted.”

“Call next time?” Stinger suggested.

It had been six months since Jupiter had taken reign over Earth and taken Caine as her guardian and partner. The friendship that had sprouted between the four of them in the house of bees had made them incredibly close, close enough to speak informally.

“So you met someone?” Jupiter asked, sitting at the edge of her seat. “Who is he?”

Stinger balked, “I thought you liked that Andrew boy. He’s safe. Stick with him.”

Caine choked on his drink and laughed. 

“I said I met someone,” Kiza interrupted the amusement. “I didn’t say I met someone like that! But she is very nice.”

“She…?” Stinger said softly. “I accept your choices, Ki--”

Kiza interrupted her father. “For you, Dad.”

The room became very quiet. Even the bees in the walls seemed surprised at her words.

“For…” Stinger began hesitantly.

“Uh huh,” Kiza nodded. “For you.”

He shook his head.

“She likes bees,” she told him.

“Just because she likes bees doesn’t mean anything,” he said. He kept his temper even but she could see his agitation growing. He didn’t want to talk about it. It would mean acknowledging once more that her mother was dead. 

“Alright,” Kiza said and shrugged. “But she is really nice. Should at least meet her and welcome her to town.”

Stinger appeared to settle. “Maybe later,” he said.

“Sure,” Kiza said and left it at that. She then asked Caine and Jupiter, “Are you staying for dinner?”

Cooking became an endeavor taken on by all four of them. It was an indescribably amazing feeling to have people around. The house had felt quiet lately, even with the bees in the walls. 

Her father had thrown himself into his work, helping Queen Jupiter create laws concerning immigration and visitation from the universe outside of the little planet. And while Kiza often left the house for one reason or another, he rarely had before as part of the Aegis, and did so even less now. Meeting someone and sparking a relationship, she thought, just might cheer him up. Even if he had to explain that alien half-bees were a thing.

As Stinger pushed up his sleeves to begin chopping tomatoes, she noticed a darkened scar on the outside of his left wrist. “Hey Dad?” she asked. “What’s that from?”

He glanced at his wrist, at the circular scar on his skin and the darkened flesh that seemed to peak in five messy points.  
“An infection,” he said simply. “Had to cut it out before it ruined me.”

Kiza frowned. “Ew,” she chuckled.

“You asked,” he replied with a smile.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stinger withdraws further at Kiza's insistence that he meet this strange beekeeper.

Chapter Two 

Kiza made her way to the inn the next morning. She could sense that the weather might quickly take a turn for the worst, but she couldn’t help but want to know more about the beekeeper that had come to town. 

Not only that, but her father’s scar had piqued her interest. He had been lying through his teeth, she knew that well enough. After all, if the infection had been cleared out, then certainly the dark mark on his skin would have been completely removed as well. 

If, by chance, this beekeeper and her father bore the same marks, then it was destiny that they should meet. It was destiny that they should be together. 

Kiza clapped her hands together. It was such a beautiful thought. She delighted at the possibility of her father being happy again. It wasn’t that he was unhappy, but she knew he was lonely. Bees weren’t supposed to be alone. 

At the inn, she heard hammering from the barn. “Beatrice?” she called out.

After a moment, the woman appeared from one of the old horse stalls. “Kiza?” she asked. “What’re you doing here?”

Beatrice fumbled her words and then added, “That sounded awful. Not that I don’t want you here I--Just…” 

Kiza laughed. “It’s fine. I just came by to see if you needed any help?”

Before the woman could reply, the rain began to come down. It had been threatening with the overcast atmosphere, but it let loose in that moment.

“Oh!” Beatrice cried out. She pulled up her plaid over-shirt and held it over her head like an umbrella. “This way!” she called to Kiza.

Kiza rushed after her. 

They sat in the horse stall she had been working in and Kiza watched her settle in in the darkness. “Should’ve seen that coming,” Beatrice said as she peeked outside. 

Kiza smiled as she watched the woman. She could tell, she could sense it. There wasn’t a mean bone in this woman’s body. She had a mouth on her, so she knew she could probably hold her own when she needed to. But the kindness within her was so much more prominent.

“I think I left the back door open,” Beatrice said. “We could probably make a mad dash to the house.”

Chuckling, Kiza said, “Sure.” Even though she knew running through the rain would only make it worse. 

Beatrice lifted her plaid shirt up to cover herself and glanced back at Kiza. The younger woman had a broad smile on her face and the beekeeper smiled back before running out through the rain.

At the back door, Beatrice turned the handle and spilled into the house. “Yes! I’m not an idiot!” she said aloud.  
Kiza could only laugh as she entered.

“I don’t mind the water, but shoes please,” Beatrice said and kicked her muddy shoes off by the door. Kiza followed her example. 

“It’s a nice floor,” Kiza said, admiring the wood on the steps that led up from the mud room. The house was much different on the inside than what she expected to see. It was much cleaner and shinier than Kiza’s own home. Though she wasn’t comparing. 

The two couldn’t be compared at all. 

“I finished the lower level of the house,” Beatrice commented. “For the most part. The upstairs rooms are still torn out.”  
In her socks, Kiza tiptoed about the lower floor.

“My favorite part is the kitchen,” the woman said and pointed to a swinging door. 

Kiza followed her direction and stepped into the other room. She had been expecting a newer, sterilized room with stainless steel and polished countertops. But Beatrice had gone a different direction. The old countertops had been restored and sealed. There was a newer stove but also a wood burning one. It was an antique kitchen, but with a few modern aspects, such as the large stainless steel refrigerator. 

“Always wanted a kitchen like that,” Beatrice said as she sat at the table behind Kiza. 

“You like cooking?” Kiza asked.

Beatrice nodded. “I love it!” she said excitedly. “But I hate cooking just for myself. If it’s just me, well, I’d rather eat pineapples from a can than put a pan on the burner.”

Kiza chuckled. Casually, she tucked her hands behind her back and said to the beekeeper. “Well, if you ever feel like cooking for another person, I’m always willing to eat.”

Smiling, the woman said, “I’d love to.”

The rain pounded on the outside of the inn, and as the sound of the storm grew louder, Beatrice grew quieter. 

After a clap of thunder shook the house, Beatrice squeaked, “You should probably call your father! … Let him know where you are.”

Kiza nodded and stepped away from the woman at the dining table before making the call. Jupiter had insisted on setting the four of them up on a cellular family plan. That way off-world technology wouldn’t be needed every time they needed to get in contact. Kiza appreciated it. Stinger and Caine, however, were not fans of the more primitive technology of Earth.

The phone rang a few times before her father finally answered. 

“Kiza?” he asked. “Where are you?”

“I’m with Beatrice,” she replied. “I got here before the storm hit.”

Stinger sighed on the other end. She couldn’t tell if it was relief or growing annoyance with her fascination with the beekeeper. 

“I’m okay, Dad,” she said. “I’ll head back when the storm clears up.”

“And if it doesn’t stop by the time it gets dark?” he asked.

“If the rain doesn’t ease up by tonight, I’ll just walk in it,” she told him.

Before her father could reply, Beatrice quickly said, “No no no! If you need a ride home, Kiza, I’ll give you a ride home.”

On the other side of her phone, Stinger said, “I don’t want her here, Kiza.”

“Do you want me home sooner or later, Dad?” Kiza asked.

“Now,” he said and hung up. 

Beatrice cautiously neared her when she put the phone away. “Are you in trouble Kiza?” she asked. “Should I get you home now?”

Kiza grinned. “You’re just trying to get rid of me, aren’t you?”

Taken aback, Beatrice stumbled over her words. “W-What? No! I--”

“I was kidding,” the girl laughed.

Beatrice smiled. “You’re welcome anytime, Kiza. As long as it’s alright with your father that you’re here. I’d hate for your to get in trouble because of me.”

Kiza set her hands behind her back. “Alright,” she said. 

 

Beatrice gave her an umbrella and took her home. The rain continued to pour down and the wipers of the car were in overdrive trying to keep their sight clear. 

As they neared the end of the long driveway that led up to the house of bees, the porch light turned on.

“Here is fine,” Kiza said. And Beatrice brought the car to a stop. “You should come to the door and meet my dad.”

Beatrice sat very still. “I--I-- Maybe another time, Kiza. He seemed a bit upset on the phone. Remember, we agreed. You won’t get in trouble because of me.”

“Promise,” Kiza replied. 

The door of the house opened and Stinger stepped out onto the porch. Kiza opened the car door.

“Umbrella!” Beatrice told her.

Kiza grinned and opened the umbrella just outside of the door. She looked back at Beatrice and said, “Thanks for the ride.”

“Any time. As long--”

“As long as it’s okay with my dad,” she finished. She waved to the woman behind the wheel and stepped around the door. 

Kiza began to close the door but paused when she noticed Beatrice shift in her seat. The woman’s dark eyes were focused through the falling rain on the oddly lit form of Stinger Apini standing upon the porch. 

Beatrice waved sheepishly, and when Stinger gave no reaction, she said, “Kiza, the door?”

“Right!” Kiza said. “Bye Beatrice. See you later.”

“Bye Kiza.” Playfully, she added, “Be good.”

“Of course.”

She closed the car door and met her father at the porch. Beatrice waited until then to drive away.

“She’s nice,” Kiza said.

“Kiza…” Stinger sighed and set an arm around her shoulders. He steered her into the house. 

“You haven’t even met her,” Kiza said.

“I don’t particularly want to,” Stinger replied.

“Dad…” Kiza complained. “You need to get out more.”

“I’m busy with helping Jupiter,” he replied.

Kiza set the closed umbrella just inside the door and pulled out her phone. “I’m calling Jupiter.”

“What?”

“I’m going to ask if you can have a personal day,” Kiza told him.

He reached for her phone and she rushed away. “Kiza! Stop!”

“Only if you meet her!”

“Kiza!”

“The phone is ringing!”

“Kiza! Stop it!”

Jupiter’s voice came through from the other end. “Kiza?”

Kiza put it to her ear. “Jupiter!”

“Kiza no!” Stinger said.

“Hold on,” Kiza said to Jupiter and then lowered the phone. “Then meet her!”

“I don’t want to, Kiza.”

“Why not?”

“Kiza…”

“Dad!”

“Kiza stop!” Stinger shouted.

She stood very still. He had never raised his voice before. 

He seemed more surprised at himself than she did and he dropped onto the couch in the living room. 

Kiza closed her phone without a word to Jupiter and sat down across from her father.

“Dad,” she said softly. She reached out and took his hand. “She has the same mark on her wrist.”

He lowered his head. 

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

“No, Kiza…” He held her hand tighter, his body trembling.

“Dad…” She moved to sit beside him and wrapped her arms around him. 

Sitting there, he seemed distant, and even sadder than usual. 

 

The house was quiet throughout the rest of the day. She had called Jupiter back to apologize for calling and then hanging up so suddenly. She explained that she couldn’t talk about it right now, but would tell her everything when she could. Jupiter was more than understanding. 

Kiza went to bed that night with her father in mind, how he had lost his composure when she had told him about the marks matching. What did he have to fear? It was destiny. They were supposed to be together. Weren’t they?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Kiza had woken that next morning with the intention of seeing Beatrice, but when she saw her father sitting in the living room, she realized he hadn’t left since the night before. He hadn’t moved an inch since he had sat down and that worried her more than anything else.

Quietly, she sat beside him. The movement of the couch caught his attention, but he barely moved to acknowledge her presence. 

Kiza gathered her legs and held herself tightly as she waited for him to speak, though she had no idea if he would, or when he would. She was content to wait. Sometimes, silence was the best medicine. Sometimes, no words needed to be said, just the quiet company of family or friends. But aside from Caine and Jupiter, Kiza knew her father had no other friends. She herself had Andrew and several others in town. After she had recovered from her sickness--by the recoding her father had provided her shortly before Jupiter took claim of Earth as queen--Kiza had returned to her normal routine and all of her friends had been ecstatic for her return. It made her happy that people had noticed, that people had cared enough about her absence.

Andrew had thrown her a small party. Her own father, however, had all but refused to attend, instead seeking solitude. Or was it repentance? Something had happened off-world, and Kiza only had a vague idea of what it was through what had been said and Jupiter’s ascension as ruler of Earth. 

Tiredly, she set her head upon her father’s shoulder and it was only then that he seemed to stir. He patted her knee and asked, “Hungry?” 

His voice was gruff from not having spoken since the night before. 

“A bit,” she replied. 

Stinger took a deep breath and rose to his feet. She watched him make his way into the kitchen. He was there, she could see him, but just looking at him she could tell he was distracted. If he tried to cook that way, she was sure he’d set himself on fire just because he wasn’t paying attention.

“I’ll help,” she said and rushed to his side. 

Kiza’s intended help became a solo activity as he stepped back. Occasionally, as she cooked, she glanced back at him. Every time she did, he noticed and set his hands at his sides. He’d been rubbing the mark at his wrist. It wasn’t a good enough time to bring it up. Not yet. Not after his reaction the night before.

She set the table and then she and her father sat down to breakfast. Everything said it would be a very quiet meal, but she was pleasantly surprised when he sat down and said, “This is hard for me, Kiza.”

In her hand she held her fork, paused in motion. She could only stare at him.

“I shouldn’t have shouted,” he said. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long time, but you really wouldn’t know anything about it. It’s not your fault, it’s mine.”

“It’s alright. I shouldn’t have pushed…” she said softly. 

“It’s something I should have told you a long time ago Kiza.”

She looked at her food and decided quickly that she would rather hear his story. And something told her she couldn’t have both.

“I loved your mother, Kiza,” he said. “More than anything in the world. More than being a Skyjacker, more than my own life. But when we met, she was betrothed to another. She and him shared a mark, a bee, of all things. Yet, she neither loved him, nor did he appreciate her for who she was. They were to be married because of the mark alone, even if she was unhappy, even if he was…”

Stinger’s voice trailed off. He cleared his throat and started again. “She tried running away. She was very vocal about changing the law that those that matched were duty bound, obligated, to be together. They-- … Kiza, do you know the story of why people get these matching symbols?”

There was a story that she knew, but now he made her very uncertain. “I know a story…”

“There was a couple. And they loved each other more than anything. So they played with genetics. Whenever people were born that may lead to the creation of their recurrence, they would develop a shared mark. But because temperaments factored into genetics, those with shared marks often fell in love. And then it was corrupted. The belief that we had free will to choose became a lack of. A mark sealed your fate.”

Kiza frowned. That had not been the story she knew. 

“Entitled used it as a means to force…” Stinger paused. He was having trouble continuing. Or he didn’t want to continue. 

Kiza reached across the table and touched his hand. He looked to his daughter’s face and such sadness entered his eyes that she left her seat. She hugged her father and he held her arm. His breath shook, but he shed no tears. He held it in. He didn’t want her to see him break.

Stinger was still trying, more than anything, to be strong for her. But he didn’t realize that he didn’t have to be. 

“But you had mom,” she said consolingly to him. That much she knew. Her parents had somehow ended up together. Maybe that was fate. 

Kiza felt tired, she’d lost her appetite. She wasn’t sure her father had ever even had one that morning, with the way he had seemed to dread speaking to her about the marks.  
She felt her father take a deep, steadying breath. He sat up a little straighter. 

“If…” he said and paused. “If you really want me to meet her, Kiza, I will.”

Kiza stepped back. She managed, “What?”

“Don’t expect me to--” he began and his daughter interrupted.

“No, no! Dad. I don’t expect anything. At all.” She ticked off the reasons on her fingers as she spoke. “She’s a nice lady. She likes bees! You share the same mark. She’s pretty. You need to get out more! And, most of all. You both like me.” Kiza but her hands on her hips and smiled proudly.

Stinger’s smile faded. It made her own falter. “I don’t like you,” he said and suddenly scooped her up in his arms. “You’re my daughter! I love you! Even when you drive me mad!”

Kiza squealed as her father spun her in a circle.

When he set her feet on the ground, he kissed her forehead. 

She wrapped her arms around her father and he held her close. He’d do anything for her. She knew that much. And maybe, he also knew that it was time to try moving on. Just a little. There was no rush.

Stepping back, she looked him over and asked, “Are you going to wear that? Also, I think you need a shower. Really. It’s a bit… Dad, you smell.”

“We’re not going now, Kiza.”

“But it’s a good day, a bright day. Go change.”

She got behind him and began pushing.

“The food is getting cold,” he said in an attempt to sidetrack her.

“We can always make more food! Shower!” she steered him out of the kitchen and then blocked the doorway.

Stinger turned to her and smiled. There was worry mixed in there, somewhere was that same worry he held when she had been sick. He was dwelling on it. Even though she was better.

“We don’t have all day, Dad,” she said.

“Alright! Alright! I’m going!” he laughed.

 

The drive to the old house was quiet, even though Kiza could hardly contain her excitement. Her father however, hadn’t said a word. His hands had been glued to the steering wheel of the old truck, his knuckles white. He didn’t want her to see his apprehension, but it came out one way or another. 

The closer they got to Beatrice, the more debris lay in the road. Had the storm gotten that bad on that side of town? It hadn’t been nearly so terrible at home. Kiza wouldn’t have even remembered that it had rained if she hadn’t seen the umbrella Beatrice had loaned her. 

Now, she held it in her lap, her hands tightening on the handle. How had the old inn fared? How had Beatrice made it through the night?

“I should’ve stayed with her last night,” Kiza said softly.

“Stayed?” Stinger asked. “Not a chance.”

Kiza didn’t look at him. He wouldn’t understand. He hadn’t met Beatrice, didn’t know about the bees she’d lost, about the storm…

As they pulled up to the inn, the first thing Kiza saw was the broken windows and the downed tree. It was an old tree, just waiting to fall, and when it had, it had scraped up the side of the inn and smashed the windows on that side with its wild branches. 

And then she saw Beatrice, sitting on the front steps, staring at the amber beer bottle in her hands.

When the truck came to a stop, Beatrice slowly looked up. Her reaction was slowed, either she didn’t much care that someone was pulling up, or she was just a little inebriated. When Kiza got out of the passenger’s seat, she knew which one it was.

“Kiza?” Beatrice asked, the name just a little slurred.

“Beatrice,” Kiza said as her father got out of the truck. “What happened?” She rushed over to the ex-beekeeper.

“Kiza,” her father said and the girl stopped short. 

Beatrice finally noticed him and jumped to her feet. She tried to hide the bottle behind her back like a child just caught drinking. Her face reddened. 

Kiza bit back a smile. The woman in front of her was embarrassed to be seen in that state. Not so much by Kiza, but Stinger was a different story altogether. 

“So much for first impressions,” Beatrice mumbled to herself, the words thick in her mouth. Her eyes narrowed on Kiza and she squinted, trying to focus.

“Are you alright?” Kiza asked.

Stinger said, “This is a bad time. We’ll come back later.”

“I--!” Beatrice stumbled forward down the last step. The bottle behind her slipped from her hand and shattered on the step. She winced at the sound. The woman took a deep breath and said, “That’s probably best.” She sounded as if she’d sobered immediately. 

Kiza frowned. She looked between Beatrice, who kept her eyes downcast, and her father, who looked over the broken windows and the downed tree. 

Carefully, the girl said, “Okay,” but still approached Beatrice and offered her the umbrella. 

Seeing it, Beatrice brought her attention to Kiza. Tears brimmed in the woman’s eyes but she smiled peacefully as if nothing was wrong or could ever have been wrong. “Thank you, Kiza,” she said.

“I’ll be back later,” Kiza replied. “And then we’ll work on fixing those windows.”

Beatrice smiled a little brighter, but the tears threatened to fall. “I’ll see you then,” Beatrice chuckled.

As Kiza headed back to the truck, she tried not to watch her father. But she saw it, his attention finally leave the storm’s destruction and drift over to the beekeeper. His expression didn’t change. 

Opening the passenger-side door, the girl looked back to Beatrice. The woman tentatively waved goodbye. Stinger turned away from her. Kiza watched her father get back into the truck. She waved to Beatrice and the moment the door closed, her father was already pulling away from the beekeeper. Leaving her alone… 

Kiza couldn’t put her finger on it, but something was wrong. Everything was wrong, not just with Beatrice, but with her father. It was wrong to leave her there, alone…   
Before they were out of sight, Beatrice walked up the steps and disappeared into the building. 

They were both hiding their feelings. Kiza wasn’t sure how to fix any of it. Either way, their first meeting certainly could have gone much better.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The drive to meet Beatrice had been quiet, and so had the drive home. They walked into the house and her father went back to the kitchen to eat the cold breakfast. Kiza wasn’t even sure what to say. There wasn’t anything to say.   
Stinger’s phone rang around midday. It could only have been two people: Caine, or Jupiter. Kiza listened to their conversation from the other room. She could only hear her father’s side, but it was something about the storm. Everything was fine. 

The conversation moved quick and was beginning to wind down. Kiza needed to think fast. Jupiter could help, couldn’t she? Couldn’t Caine help? She’d known Caine since she was born. 

“Dad!” she said quickly and bound into the room. “Is that Jupiter?”

Stinger stared at her. “Yes,” he said cautiously.

“Could… Is there any chance they’re heading this way for a visit?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” he said and suspiciously added, “Why?”

“I… Dad… There are some things you just don’t talk about with your dad,” she said.

“Like what?” he said defensively.

“Like periods,” she blurted. “And--”

She could already hear Jupiter laughing on the other end. Her father stared at her. He had given her the coming of age talk when her mother couldn’t, but he had stuttered his way through it and when he wasn’t stuttering he would pause and repeatedly wish her mother was still with them.

“Jupiter…?” he said into the phone. He had given up. Kiza held back a smile.

She could hear Jupiter still laughing as she said, “We’ll be by this evening, Stinger.”

He hung up the phone and set it on the table, visibly uncomfortable.

Kiza said, “I’ll clean up a bit,” and left him there to a little bit of quiet. She had asked a lot of him recently. It was only fair. 

There was no such thing as a spotless beehive. The house was a hive. On warm days, honey dripped down the walls. Kiza paused her sweeping and wondered if Beatrice would be happy in a place like this. She loved bees but the inn, even under construction was beautiful floors and walls. She kept a clean property. Maybe that was an issue for her father. Bees attracted bees, but flowers still needed room to grow or they would be smothered. What kind of flower was Beatrice? 

 

Jupiter and Caine arrived to excitement from Kiza. Stinger still looked tired. Almost immediately, they left to the store and Caine and Stinger settled in for a quiet evening. 

In the car, Jupiter asked, “Alright, so what’s really going on?”

Kiza smiled sheepishly. “Did Caine ever tell you about soulmate marks?” she asked.

“Two different stories,” she replied. “After he saw mine on my…um... two very different stories.”

Kiza grinned. “Well, there’s a Beekeeper that moved to town, and hers matches my dad’s.” 

Jupiter pursed her lips. “Oh boy… And? They met?”

Kiza sighed. “We went by this morning. The storm trashed her place and… she was a bit drunk.”

Jupiter made a face. “I take it that didn’t go over well?” she asked.

“Not at all,” Kiza replied. “What’s strange though? They seem weird around each other.”

“Yeah? How so?”

Kiza shook her head. She really couldn’t explain it. The sideways glances, the downward cast eyes. If one was looking, the other wasn’t. 

At the girl’s silence, Jupiter asked, “She’s… she’s just from Earth, right?”

Kiza nodded. “I’m pretty sure,” she replied. “She didn’t seem to have any idea what the mark on her wrist was.” 

Jupiter watched the road for a moment and said, “Let’s go visit her!” 

Kiza sat up straight. She clapped her hands together. Jupiter was intrigued enough to meet Beatrice, maybe she could see something that Kiza missed. “Oh… Don’t tell my dad we’re doing this?”

“Of course not!” Jupiter laughed. 

 

As they pulled up to the inn, Beatrice was out at the tree hacking away with an axe. The sun was low and the branches of the tree had been pulled away. The large trunk was still there. How long had she been working on it? It was a lot of work. She must have started soon after Kiza had left that morning. 

The car came to a halt and Beatrice pulled the axe from the tree. She looked up and wiped the sweat from her brow as Kiza leapt out of the car. 

“Kiza,” she said and stepped away from the tree. “What are you doing here?”

“Here to help,” Kiza replied. “Or at least to check on you.”

“Check on me?” Beatrice replied. Her voice was tense. 

Jupiter came around the car and introduced herself. The tension remained in Beatrice but she seemed to stand a little straighter. They shook hands. 

“You have a beautiful property,” Jupiter said.

Beatrice turned around and set the axe into the tree again with a heavy swing. “Wanna buy it,” she grumbled.

Kiza flinched. This wasn’t the Beatrice she knew. 

“You’re selling?” Jupiter asked. 

“At this point, I’m cursed,” Beatrice said. The axe slammed into the wood again. “Property is better off with someone else. Make an offer. I’ll take a box of chocolate and a six pack for this shithole.”

“Beatrice…” Kiza breathed. Had something else happened in the course of the day? “You can’t leave.”

“I--!” Beatrice started loudly. She faced Kiza and took a deep breath. She wasn’t angry at her. 

Jupiter took that silence to intervene. “I’m looking at property to invest in in the area,” she said. Kiza looked at her with surprise.

“Invest?” Beatrice asked. 

Jupiter watched the beekeeper for a moment. “This would be a particular contract,” she said.

“Particular contract…?” Beatrice said slowly. 

“We’d cover the expenses of running the property, you would own and manage it,” Jupiter said.

Kiza looked between them. What was going on?

“What’s the catch,” Beatrice said with skepticism. 

“I can’t tell you unless you agree to a contract,” she said. “You wouldn’t be able to talk about the clients.”

Kiza’s face broke into a grin. 

“What’s the legality of this?” Beatrice asked.

“Completely legal,” Jupiter said.

Beatrice stared at her. Kiza could almost see her mulling it over. 

“Let’s talk details,” Beatrice said. 

 

Kiza and Jupiter left several hours later and barely remembered to go to the store before it closed. When they returned, Stinger and Caine were sitting in the kitchen trading war stories, reminiscing about their time as skyjackers. 

“Did you get lost?” Caine asked. 

Stinger sighed heavily. “Kiza,” he said through clenched teeth.

Kiza opened her mouth to explain, but Jupiter spoke instead. “We were looking for property to host visiting dignitaries,” Jupiter said. “Ms. Holguin’s property is secluded enough with additional property to house their transportation.”

“You told her?” Stinger said and Kiza wasn’t sure if her father was speaking to her or to Jupiter. 

“Not yet,” Jupiter replied. “Beatrice wanted some time to make her decision. We hashed out a few details, but if she decides to go for the project, then I’ll have to.”

“Do you really think that’s best?” Stinger said shortly.

Jupiter watched him with consideration. “Do you want to run a hotel for intergalactic visitors?” she asked. “I don’t have enough people here that know the truth and we need to start looking at political remedies for off-world situations.”

Kiza bit the inside of her cheek. She didn’t know what to say. Caine and her father stared at the Queen of Earth. 

“Alright,” Stinger said slowly. “If that’s what you want.”

“She still has to agree to it,” Jupiter said. “And when she does, I would like all of us to be there. I know I didn’t want to believe it either.”

Caine nodded. 

Stinger sighed, “Alright.”

Kiza looked between them all. She had intervened and Beatrice’s entire life was about to change. For a moment, she wondered if she had done the right thing.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm alive! I have heard your cries! The story will continue. It's not much at the moment, but it's something to hopefully tide you over until I can get on it a little more.

Chapter Five

Jupiter and Caine had stayed the night at the House of Bees. Kiza had retired early to bed, but for a while she sat on the stairs and listened to her father and the others talk. 

“It is a good plan,” Stinger sighed. “I just don’t like it.”

“What’s really the problem, Stinger?” Jupiter asked. 

Kiza never heard his answer. They were quiet for so long that she found herself drifting off to sleep at the top of the stairs and she soon went to her room. 

The sun was bright in the morning sky when she awoke to the bees in the walls humming with excitement. Something was new. They were feeding off of the energy in the house and Kiza pulled herself out of bed. She made it halfway down the stairwell when she heard her father proclaim, “This is all I have to wear. Why are we getting dressed up for this?”

“You’re starting to sound like Caine,” Jupiter muttered.

“H-Hey!” Caine stuttered back.

Kiza wiped at her eyes as she came down into the room. “What’s going on?” she yawned.

Jupiter paused as she pulled a nice coat over her shoulders. “Your friend Beatrice called this morning. She said she wanted to go over details and make the deal,” she said.

“And no one was going to wake me up?” Kiza blurted.

“We weren’t going to leave without you,” Caine told her.

“I doubt the house bees would let us,” Jupiter smiled. She reached back and tied up her dark hair and she smiled to the girl. “You could get ready quickly. It was Stinger who has taken some convincing.”

Kiza’s face lit up and she rushed upstairs to find clothes. Once Beatrice knew the truth, she hoped she and her father wouldn’t be so strange around one another. It could all quickly backfire, but she hoped Beatrice would be accepting of everything. She had never hoped for something so much. She wanted this to go well, even if it didn’t go smoothly. She wanted to tell the beekeeper so much.

They had all four gotten in Stinger’s truck and he drove them to the old inn. 

“Wait here,” Jupiter had said to them when she left the vehicle. She crossed the gravel road and Beatrice met her on the porch with a tired smile. 

The beekeeper cast the truck and its inhabitants a questioning expression but seemed to let it fade when she invited Jupiter inside to talk. 

Kiza sat on pins and needles. She fiddled with her hands, with the seams and stitching of her shirt. She untied and braided her hair and then unbraided it and put it back in a ponytail. “Why is this taking so long?” she whispered inside the quiet vehicle.

“It’s been five minutes Kiza,” her father said.

She looked at the clock. It felt so much longer than that. “Do you think--” she began.

“It’ll be fine,” Caine said.

“You think she’ll sign it?” Kiza asked. “Do you think we’ll be able to tell her?”

“I think she’s got nothing left to lose,” Stinger said.

Kiza groaned. That was probably true. The agitation in the beekeeper the day before had worried her. It felt like she had given up, like she was ready to burn whatever the storm had left intact.

The time neared an hour. Kiza hadn’t ceased fidgeting. Stinger had his head tilted back and he slept quietly. Caine looked out the window, his gaze wandering over the downed trees and branches, over the taped and covered windows. The inn would need plenty of work if it was to be useable. The storm had done a number on it. 

Finally Jupiter stepped down the porch followed by the beekeeper. The Queen of Earth paused and turned back to the dark-haired woman, said something quietly, and Beatrice seemed to pause in her tracks. She stared at Jupiter, shook her head, and laughed.

“She told her,” Caine said, his eyes on the queen again.

Kiza leaned forward from the back seat to watch.

The two women spoke again and Beatrice shook her head. She looked up at the sky, shook her head again and crossed her arms. 

Jupiter lifted a hand and waved to the three in the truck. Kiza didn’t need any other invitation. She threw open the door and leapt out before her father could say another word. At this moment, she didn’t think her father would say anything. They were all there to do the same thing, convince Beatrice of their existence. 

“Kiza?” the beekeeper said as the girl trotted up to Jupiter. “What kind of people do you-- you know what? I don’t want to know. You’re all crazy but--”

Jupiter interjected, “We might be crazy, but going forward, you’re going to have to believe me. You’re a part of this now.”

“An intergalactic bed and breakfast?” Beatrice scoffed. She shook her head again “Look, you can call yourselves whatever you want--” She fell silent.

Kiza glanced behind her to see Caine and her father approaching. They didn’t look like they fit in with anyone else on Earth. There was an extraterrestrial style that they were comfortable wearing, and it showed on Beatrice’s face that she was clearly concerned. 

“Kiza…” Beatrice said slowly. “Dear… is there… someone I should contact? Are you… are you safe? At home? I mean.”

Jupiter bit back her laughter. She turned away from the woman and covered her mouth as her shoulders shook. 

“Beatrice,” Kiza said. “I’m fine. And you are too. This is my father, and this is Caine.”

“And… you are all… aliens?” Beatrice spoke slowly. 

Kiza smiled a wide grin. “Well, yes,” she said. It was the easiest way to relay the information.

“And Jupiter says there are… splices?” Beatrice said. She seemed like she was trying not to be condescending but it was in her tone that she thought they were insane. 

“Jupiter was hardly this difficult,” Caine muttered.

“Yes!” Kiza answered the woman. “My father is spliced with a bee and Caine is--”

“An albino, space werewolf?” Beatrice scoffed.

Jupiter’s eyes widened. “Half-albino, werewolf, space angel,” she said. “But I’m impressed that was really close.”

Caine gave a sigh and a soft growl of disapproval. “That’s not very funny, Jupiter…” he said.

“Look,” Beatrice shook her head. “You can be weird furries if you want. I--”

Caine had had enough. He shrugged off his jacket and let his skyjacker wings form and stretch out wide. 

Beatrice stared as Jupiter’s guard lifted from the ground with a single beat of his wings. Kiza watched the woman’s gaze follow him higher and higher and when she was looking up into the sky, everything seemed to click. “...Lycantant…” she whispered. 

She looked at Stinger. “Bee…” she said. 

And then to Kiza. “Bee daughter…”

Finally, her dark eyes landed on Jupiter and she said, “Queen… of Earth?”

Jupiter nodded. 

Kiza watched Beatrice’s gaze go back up into the sky. She wasn’t looking at Caine, but something far off in space. “Huh…” Beatrice breathed. Then she swayed and fell.

The ex-beekeeper had fainted and no one had moved. Caine landed and said to Jupiter, “It was sudden, but we were getting nowhere the gentle way.”

“Oh I agree,” Jupiter smirked.

Kiza looked back at her father, whom hadn’t said a word and hadn’t moved an inch and Stinger Apini said, “I should have caught her, shouldn’t I?”

Jupiter snorted. She covered her mouth and laughed. 

“Yes!” Kiza chastised him. 

“We’ve got a lot to talk about when she wakes up,” Jupiter said and gave a slow shake of her head.

“I’ll do it,” Stinger said. 

“Really?” Kiza asked. “We’re staying til she’s up?”

Her father seemed reluctant to say any more, but he nodded. “I’ll be keeping watch on this place, right?” he asked of Jupiter and the queen nodded. “Then as the resident Aegis marshall, I’ll handle it,” he said.

“ _We’ll_ handle it,” Kiza confirmed.

Stinger nodded. “Leave it to us, Jupiter,” he said.


End file.
